Tuesday, March 19, 2013

Cathedral, Bazaar...or Both?

Eric Reymond talks about two different methods of software development: Cathedral, and Bazaar. These two methods don't have to be as exclusive as Reymond seems to think. These days game developers are starting to release open beta versions of games earlier than before. Open beta testing usually means the public have freedom to play-test the game and report any bugs they find, or suggest improvements. This large amount of crowd-sourced testing does a great job at finding bugs, but what if the game's source code were included in the beta? Bugs could be fixed faster, and for free, but users might not buy the finished game if they already possess a near-working version. As far as users adding features, many games, especially newer games on Steam, already have ways for users to create additional content and integrate it into the game. The cathedral is in the bazaar, and the doors are opening.

1 comment:

If men were angels, then releasing video game source code would be a super sweet idea. You mentioned people using the beta-source code without buying the released game. I believe another problem would be that hackers would study the code and some would use it to mess up the game. But, twould be sweet to see a company do it.